Reji Thomas

Last updated
Reji Thomas at the George Washington Carver Museum. 2017 RejinaThomas CarverMuseum 26OCT2017.jpg
Reji Thomas at the George Washington Carver Museum. 2017

Rejina (Reji) Thomas is an American glass artist who has thrived as a painter and artistic community advocate. In 1995 Thomas reproduced the intricate glass work for the restoration of the Texas Capitol building. She was commissioned by the State of Texas to create gifts for the President of Mexico and Queen Elizabeth of England. [1] IBM and 3M are among the corporations that have commissioned her engraved and etched-glass awards. [2] Her artwork has been collected by Ann Richards, Barbara Jordan, B.B. King, and Steven Spielberg. Thomas is the founder of Graphic Glass Studios Inc. and the Pine Street Station. [3] [4]

Contents

Formative years

Thomas was born in Los Angeles. Her mother was a registered nurse and her father an electrical engineer. Early in life she was sent to live with her grandparents on the family's farm in Evergreen, Alabama. At the age of 15, while in art class, Thomas sold her first painting. [5] Later, as a medic in the Air Force she began using a diamond dental drill to create images on glass, developing a steady hand and eye for detail. [2] Thomas graduated from the International Pilchuck School of Glass based in Seattle, Washington. [4] Thomas moved to Austin in the late 1970s. [6]

Capitol restoration

During the 1995 comprehensive interior restoration of the Texas Capitol, Thomas was contracted to replicate all of the intricate glass work in the Capitol Building. The restoration project was intensive and included approximately 600 panels of glass, which had to be matched to old specifications. Her experience with a rare double-acid etching process helped her win the contract. Thomas had created replacement panes for the Capitol before when fire damaged the Capitol during the mid-Eighties. [1] [3]

Pine Street Station studio

In addition to Thomas artistic creations, she fostered a community in 2009 when she established her Pine Street Station studio space for the public. Her solo studio evolved into a home for “80s gypsy artists.” There were no hostels or welcoming creative spaces for traveling young artists at that time. Thomas saw a need for welcoming creative spaces responded. Pine Street Station hosted events, which included the annual QueerBomb celebration, AIDS Services of Austin's ArtErotica, the Fader Fort during SXSW, HOPE Farmers Market (the Eastside's first), and the annual East Austin Studio Tour. [6] [3] Thomas moved out of the studio after a 2014 court decision in favor of the land owner, CapMetro. [3]

Awards and exhibitions

In 1990 Thomas' work was exhibited at Austin's Laguna Gloria Art Museum and at the Women and Their Work gallery. [2] Her studio, Graphic Glass Studios Inc. was recognized by The Austin Chronicle Best Of Awards as the "Best Acid Drop For Art's Sake". [1] In 2004 The Austin Chronicle recognized her 11th Street mural as the 'Best Look Back at the New Eastside' referring to it as a masterpiece, and a "soul-sending work of art". [7] In October 2017 State of Ascension: Mixed Media Vessel Works exhibition opened at the George Carver Museum. It featured two decades of Rejina Thomas' art. A theme embodied in her meticulously crafted containers and painting "position the womb as a metaphorical looking glass from which viewers experience and understand the world." [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Kozik</span> American graphic artist (1962–2023)

Frank Kozik was an American graphic artist best known for his posters for alternative rock bands. With his prolific output and connections in the music industry, Kozik helped revitalize rock poster art in the late 1980s and 1990s, and was a founder of the modern art print scene. His album cover work included the bands Queens of the Stone Age and the Offspring. With his artistic versatility, he was also a pioneer in the designer toy movement, and later became the creative director of Kidrobot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabet Ney</span> German–American sculptor

Franzisca Bernadina Wilhelmina Elisabeth Ney was a German-American sculptor who spent the first half of her life and career in Europe, producing portraits of famous leaders such as Otto von Bismarck, Giuseppe Garibaldi and King George V of Hanover. At age 39, she immigrated to Texas with her husband, Edmund Montgomery, and became a pioneer in the development of art there. Among her most famous works during her Texas period were life-size marble figures of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, commissions for the Texas State Capitol. A large group of her works are housed in the Elisabet Ney Museum, located in her home and studio in Austin. Other works can be found in the United States Capitol, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and numerous collections in Germany.

William De White, better known as Guy Juke, is a Austin, Texas–based graphic artist and musician. As a poster artist he created memorable imagery for nightclubs such as Armadillo World Headquarters and was one of the 'Armadillo Art Squad'. His work is recognized for its blocky, sharp-edged figures on angular, geometric settings. Often darkly detailed, his work include shadowy and angular figures inspired by horror films, haunting western landscapes, and loopy cartoon characters.

The Austin Film Society (AFS) is a non-profit film society based in Austin, Texas. Founded in 1985 to exhibit independent, experimental, foreign and various other non-mainstream art films, the film society has grown from just film exhibition to fostering independent filmmaking in Texas and has served as a cornerstone in building the film industry in Austin. The film society also owns and maintains Austin Studios, hosts the annual Texas Film Awards gala, and oversees the Austin Film Society grant program. The film society was founded by film director Richard Linklater, who currently serves on the board as artistic director. Other notable members on the board and advisory board include Tim McCanlies, Robert Rodriguez, Charles Burnett, Guillermo del Toro, Jonathan Demme, Mike Judge, John Sayles, Steven Soderbergh, Paul Stekler and Quentin Tarantino.

Judy Jensen is an American artist who resides in Austin, Texas. She is best known for her reverse painting on glass, although she incorporates other mixed media into her glass pieces. According to Nancy Bless, Jensen's works "lie somewhere between a collage and a collection."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frost Bank Tower</span> Skyscraper in Austin Texas

The Frost Bank Tower is a skyscraper in Austin, Texas, United States. Standing 515 feet (157 m) tall with 33 floors, it is the fifth tallest building in Austin, behind The Independent, The Austonian, Fairmont Austin, and the 360 Condominiums. It was developed by Cousins Properties from November 2001 to December 2003 as a class A office building with 525,000 sq ft (48,774 m2) of leasable space. It was the first high-rise building to be constructed in the United States after the 9/11 attacks. The building was officially dedicated in January 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Hall (glass artist)</span> Canadian artist

Sarah Hall is a stained glass artist from Canada. Sarah Hall is internationally recognized for her large-scale art glass installations and solar projects. Her work can be found in churches, synagogues, schools, and other commercial and public buildings in Canada, the US, and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Webb Dreyer</span> American painter

Margaret Webb Dreyer was an American painter, muralist, mosaic artist, educator, gallery owner, and political activist who spent most of her career in Houston, Texas. Though she worked in a number of styles and media over the years, she was best known as an abstract expressionist painter. Her work won numerous awards in major juried shows and was exhibited widely in museums and galleries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lviv National Academy of Arts</span> Public university in Lviv, Ukraine

Lviv National Academy of Arts is a higher education establishment in Lviv, Ukraine.

Jason Archer is an American artist living in Austin, Texas. He is the creator of a variety artworks as a director, animator, painter, and muralist both collaborative and solo. His work includes political satire and Texas inspired characters including Jesus Cornbread & the Alcoholics and Stray of the Dead. Archer’s early career in animation earned him a Grammy and an MTV Video of the Year Award for directing and animating "Frijolero", a music video for the Mexican rock band Molotov. Currently, Archer co-owns Show Goat Mural Works, a company that installs large scale murals such as Daniel Johnston’s ‘Love is the Question. Love is the Answer’ and his very own ‘Conservatorium of Infinite Wisdom, Sustenance and Guidance.’ Archer has participated in numerous art shows, exhibitions and events ranging from SXSW, East Austin Studio Tour and the inaugural Pop Austin International Art Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollis Hammonds</span> American artist and academic

Hollis Hammonds is an American artist and academic, who is associate professor of art and chair of visual studies at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. Hammonds specializes in drawing and sculptural installations. She is author of the drawing textbook, Drawing Structure: Conceptual & Observational Techniques.

Wura-Natasha Ogunji is an artist and performer based in Lagos, Nigeria; she is of Nigerian descent.

Mary Fraser Wesselhoeft was an American graphic artist, watercolorist, and stained-glass artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Sam Houston (Ney)</span> Sculpture by Elisabet Ney in two versions

Sam Houston is a statue of Sam Houston by Elisabet Ney, originally modeled in 1892 and installed in 1905; it is part of the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., as one of the two statues from Texas. The other Texas statue, Stephen F. Austin, is also by Ney and was produced in parallel. Another carving of Sam Houston is displayed in the Texas State Capitol, where it was installed in 1903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westgate Tower</span> Historic structure in Austin, Texas

The Westgate Tower is a mixed-use high-rise building in downtown Austin, Texas. The twenty-six-story 261-foot (80 m) tower block was designed in 1962 and completed in 1966; its name reflects its location across the street from the west gate of the Texas State Capitol. Designed by architect Edward Durell Stone, the tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 and designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silvia Levenson</span>

Silvia Levenson is a contemporary artist and political activist working in glass. Originally a graphic artist in her native Argentina whose political work was in direct conflict with the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla, she found herself and her young family immigrating to Italy in 1980. Glass soon became the new medium in which she could best express her feelings of exile, oppression and personal tragedy.

Susan Stinsmuehlen-Amend is a glass and mixed media artist who lives and works in Ojai, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nontsikelelo Mutiti</span> Artist from Zimbabwe

Nontsikelelo Mutiti is a graphic designer, artist and educator. Her work focuses on web design, video, print, and book art. She often includes hair braiding in her design work, and is "interested in the nuanced differences between black cultures". Her work includes printed materials for Black Lives Matter. Since 2022, Mutiti has served as the Director of Graduate Studies in Graphic Design at the Yale School of Art.

Anne Riley is an interdisciplinary artist of Slavey Dene and German ancestry. Born in Dallas, Texas, Riley currently lives and works in Vancouver, Canada. Several of Riley's works derive from her identity as Indigiqueer, a term coined by Cree artist TJ Cuthand, and commonly used by Indigenous artists including Oji-Cree storyteller, Joshua Whitehead. The term is interconnected with Two-spirit, an identity and role that continues to be vital within and across many Indigenous nations. Through artistic projects, Riley engages Indigenous methodologies that prioritize learning through embodiment, nurturing communities as well as the non-human world. Riley received her BFA from the University of Texas at Austin in 2012. Riley is a recipient of the City of Vancouver Studio Award (2018–2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Lives Matter street mural (Capitol Hill, Seattle)</span> Mural in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

A "Black Lives Matter" street mural was painted in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington in June 2020. Maintained by the Seattle Department of Transportation, the artwork has survived longer than many Black Lives Matter street murals across the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Best of Austin 1995 > Critics > Services > Best Acid Drop For Art's Sake: Graphic Glass Studios Inc". The Austin Chronicle . 1995. Archived from the original on 22 February 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Silverstein, Vivian (August 1990). "Industrious Arts: Five Texans are old masters at capitalizing on their artistic talents". Texas Monthly . Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Messeer, Kate (2014-11-07). "Reji Thomas Has Left the Building". The Austin Chronicle. Austin, Texas. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  4. 1 2 "Rejina Thomas Exhibition Opening Reception & Celebration". Do512. Do Stuff Network. 26 October 2017. Archived from the original on 22 February 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  5. 1 2 Carbone, Christopher (1 March 2011). "Artist in Residence". L Style G Style. Austin. Archived from the original on 22 February 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 Johnson, Abby L. "Local Austin Artist Reji Thomas Makes Space for Creatives". EASTside Magazine. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  7. "Best of Austin > 2004 > Critics Picks > Architecture & Lodging > Best Look Back at the New Eastside: Reji Thomas' Eastside Mural on 11th". The Austin Chronicle . 2004. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2017.